Mac McClung became the fifth player in NBA history to win back-to-back dunk contests when he ended All-Star Saturday night with a clinching 50-point slam over Shaquille O’Neal.
McClung, who became a viral sensation in high school for his high-flying dunks, broke out his high school jersey when he won the contest a year ago. This time, he brought out a much larger jersey and handed it to O’Neal, who donned the jersey and held the ball above his head for McClung’s fourth and final dunk.
The 6-foot-2 McClung cleared O’Neal and finished with a reverse slam for the only 50-point dunk of the night to defeat 6-foot-6 Jaylen Brown of the Boston Celtics in the final. McClung, a G Leaguer, said he told his parents about the idea of having O’Neal wear his Gate City High School (Virginia) jersey about five or six weeks ago, and they sprang into action. When it was time for the dunk, McClung said O’Neal told him one thing.
“I told him will you put it on, and he said, ‘You better not miss this dunk,'” McClung said. “I was like, ‘All right, I won’t miss it.’
“What a cool guy to do that, man. What a great guy to do that for myself and my hometown. That just shows who he is. It’s really cool of him.”
McClung said he had been thinking for weeks about the dunks and would stay up late at night texting his best friends videos of dunks and asking if they thought those were good enough or not.
“And they’re like, ‘Yeah, they’re good enough. Now, I’m going to bed,'” McClung said jokingly.
McClung joins Zach LaVine (2015-16), Nate Robinson (2009-10), Jason Richardson (2002-03) and Michael Jordan (1987-88) as the only back-to-back dunk contest champions.
If McClung were to return to the dunk contest next season, he could become the first player to win in three consecutive seasons and would join Robinson as the only three-time champions. Brown became the first player to compete in the dunk contest in his All-Star season since Victor Oladipo in 2018. The last player to win the dunk contest in his All-Star season was John Wall in 2014.
Brown made the final with a callback to dunk contest judge Dominique Wilkins with his first slam then sealed the deal by jumping over YouTuber and social media sensation Kai Cenat, with an assist from Celtics teammate Jayson Tatum on the toss.
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